Sigyn

You should pronounce it "Sigün".

This is Sigyn:

The gentleman in chains, (if you could call him that), is her husband, Loki.
It struck me that Sigyn's name was mentioned in recent conversation, which has led to another train of thought.
Though relatively minor, she is my favourite of the Norse deities. Not only is she married to the mysterious, enigmatic, amoral, and at times, down right naughty, Loki, (obviously the god I'd most want to shag), she has one of the most touchingly beautiful myths surrounding her.

After Loki murdered Balder, the gods took their revenge. Thor prised three rocks out of the cavern floor of the underworld, and set them up on edge. A V-shape was split out of the top of the rocks. It was obvious that only magic bonds would hold Loki, and so Odin ordered the capture of Loki's two sons, Vali and Nari. The Gods charmed Vali into the shape of a wolf and he immediately set upon his brother, savaging him to death. Nari's entrails were collected and used to bind Loki so that he lay prone along the three rocks standing on edge: one stuck under his shoulders, the second under his loins, and the third under the hollows of his knees and ankles. Finally he was also bolted down with iron.
Skadi the giantess, daughter of Thiazzi and wife of Niord, caught a poisonous snake and trapped it by the tail so that it writhed above Loki's head, dripping its venom into his eyes. Each drop threw him into such terrific convulsions that the whole of Midgard shook.
Loki's faithful wife, Sigyn, vowed to the gods that she would sit with him forever, if only they would allow her to hold a basin under the poison drops. And there she now sits patiently beside her husband. However, every so often, her basin becomes full, and she must hurry away to empty it. In those moments, the snake's poison falls into Loki's eyes, and Midgard is once again shaken by earthquakes.

I know some Aphrodites, I know some Artemises, but I fear I am a Sigyn. Gah.

I almost snarfed my tea through my nose when I learned today that Sigyn means "victorious girlfriend". Oh, sweet laughter.

(Oh, and another thing, Loki once indulged in a spot of crossdressing in order to retrieve Thor's stolen hammer. And the parallels ride on...)